Anyway, I rolled a Skill of 8, a Stamina of 19, a Luck of 10, and an Armour of 8. I gotta say, my confidence is wavering a little bit. Cyrus killed me last time because I had a Skill of 7, and my current score isn't much better. This could be very touch-and-go. (And seriously, on the whole planet they couldn't find anyone better to do the job? Skill 8 is the best they could muster? Maybe they deserve to have Cyrus drop a gene-bomb on them.)
I rolled a 6 for credits to spend on weapons. I ended up going for an Electric Lash, a Gravity Bomb, one grenade, and an extra 2 points of Armour. The Electric Lash is a pretty weak weapon, but I should be able to find an Assault Blaster pretty early on.
It should be noted that I'm glossing over a lot of this adventure, because I've covered it before. If you want more details, check out the earlier posts.
Okay, well-armed and perhaps not entirely well-trained, I'm ready to board the Vandervecken and kill me a mad scientist.
ATTEMPT 3
Having boarded the Vandervecken, I used my gravity bomb to blow up the door right ahead of me. The door was vaporised in a perfect circle, and standing on the other side was a faceless guard robot with an assault blaster levelled in my direction.
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The Guard Robot (Skill 5, Stamina 5) was better-armed than me, but for some reason kept on missing its shots. I eventually whittled it down, and took the Assault Blaster from its remains.
I was in a prison room, with two cells. I looked in the first cell and found an old man, who talked to me about the crazy robot pilot of the ship. I ignored the second cell and left the room through a maintenance hatch.
Further along I found another hatch, and upon entering found some rat-like scientists. I interrogated them, took their security key, and made my way through a security door into a long corridor.
Along the corridor I found a kitchen, which I looted for some high-energy bars. The corridor soon ended at a checkpoint, where a robot armed with twin electric lashes halted me. With no patience for such delays, I attacked it immediately. The robot retaliated fiercely, blasting away at my armour (reducing it to 7, and my Stamina to 17), but I was able to destroy it with two shots from my Assault Blaster.
Under the robot was a hatch with three buttons. I was able to press them in the correct sequence, and underneath I found another Gravity Bomb. Checking a side door, I was surprised by a Laser Globe, which darted out and zapped my Armour (reducing it to 6). I returned fire, and it exploded in one hit. Inside the room was a lab, where I found some nerve gas, three tablets and a dead crab. I ate a tablet (restoring my Stamina to 19), and took the remaining tablets and the nerve gas with me.
Further up the main tunnel I found a library, where I quickly read a microfilm about robotics. (I was a little surprised that there were real books in this library, but the existence of microfilm is really stretching things. It's hard enough here in 2019 to find a microfilm reader, let alone the far-flung future of Space Assassin.)
I ignored a room containing "cephalo squirrels", and soon found myself in front of a door with two buttons. With little other option, I pressed the button on the right and was pleased when the door slid open. I was less pleased when a trio of alien cleaners, armed with hydrovacs, charged to attack.
You might have thought I'd mow these guys down with my Assault Blaster, but for some reason I engaged them in hand-to-hand combat. The first cleaner struck me once before I broke his neck, and the third cleaner was able to land three hits on me. The second cleaner proved to be a real fighter, though, and hit me no less than four times before I could kill him. I was barely alive (with just 3 Stamina remaining), so I scoffed down my high-energy bars and one of my tablets (which brought my Stamina back to 13).
After a short time the corridor ended at an enormous tunnel extending to the left and right. Feeling exposed in such a large space, I clambered down through a maintenance hatch, and crawled along a long series of gloomy access tunnels. I found another hatch and opened it. Beyond was a small, hot, smelly room full of pipes and wiring. A tiny alien cowered in the corner, with one of its legs badly burned.. I spoke to it in a friendly manner, and it replied by warning me about "the nasty, nasty black blobs". Thus forewarned, I returned to the tunnel.
It continued for a very long time, until ending at another hatch. The room beyond was half taken up by a large pool, but I ignored it and left through the far door. This opened onto a walkway above a vast landscape far below. Going along the walkway I turned left, and left again, until I came to a guard post where two guards were watching zero-g fangball. I killed them both with nerve gas. Checking one exit I found a kitchen with coffee and some sandwiches, but I ignored those and left through the security door.
Beyond was a bridge over a pool, and past that was an alien who demanded that I answer a riddle to pass. His riddle was simple, and I answered it and left through the centre door behind him, where I confidently strode through a room full of floating black spheres. Finally I came to four pairs of pillars, each with a robot animal on top. The robots asked me questions as I passed through them, but I was able to answer all of them correctly, and leave through a door to the right.
I was suddenly attacked by a pair of Sentinel robots. The microfilm from the library would have helped me if I'd decided to fight them, but instead I got past them by climbing up and along the ceiling girders (this required two Luck tests, and reduced my score to 8).
I had finally made it to the bridge, where the robotic pilot tried to engage me in a philosophical discussion. I did my best not to answer, and eventually he grew bored with me and I was able to leave through a door with a crescent on it. (I ate the last of my tablets and a Pep Pill to bring my Stamina back up to 19.)
Inside I found an opulent room, and sitting in a chair reading was Cyrus. He was unprepared, and tried numerous ploys to distract me, but I kept on advancing, intent on my task. He fled down a chute, and I followed. Cyrus was waiting for in the hangar, now inside a powerful loading machine robot, and wielding an industrial laser.
The battle with Cyrus (Skill 9, Stamina 12) was a hard fought one. We traded hits early, but as the battle wore on his accuracy grew worse, while mine remained steady. At last, I destroyed the machine Cyrus was fighting in with my Assault Blaster, and dragged his unconscious body out of it. My mission was successful.
THE POST-GAME
Success! I nearly screwed it up by inadvertently finding a new path; those Cleaners really did a number on me. But in the end, with a copious amount of Stamina-boosting items, I was able to pull through. Sometimes, very rarely, being confident works out.
Next time I'll give my final thoughts on Space Assassin, and then it's back to the Sorcery! series for The Crown of Kings. Obviously there'll be no Exploring Titan post for the sci-fi books, so it'll be one more post and then back to some good old fantasy, Steve Jackson style.
Congrats! Very interested in hearing your thoughts on this one. Personally I rather like its 'space dungeon' pulpy feel.
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